Improved nut and washer-machine



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES T. VOOD AND EDWARD C. SMITH, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED NUT AND WASHER-MACHINE.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, J AMEs THEODORE WOOD and EDWARD GONE SMITH, both ofthe city of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania,haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Machinery for Making Nuts and Washers; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of our machine. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the action of the cam-shaft. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the center of the'machine.

Fig. 4 is a top View of the machine. Fig. 5 is a plan or top viewl of the machine at the level of the bed-plate, the upper roll and dies being removed. Fig. 6 is a front view of the rolls detached from the other parts of themachine.

In the several figures like letters of reference denote similar parts of the machine.

In our machine for making nuts and washers a bar of iron at a welding heat is passed between a pair of grooved rollersfurnished with stationary punches or bosses, by means of which the bar is compressed and rolledinto shape, and by the same operation the bar of iron is partially perforated at proper intervals for theeye of the nuts, the perforations being made in both faces of the bar from above and below. As the bar is fed forward between the rolls, the forward end passes under a die, which presses it down, while a moving punch complet-es the perforation of the eye, forcing out the thin film of iron which remained from the partial perfo-ration effected by the bosses on the rolls. The die and punch are then raised, and the bar is again fed forward the length of one nut. The finished nut, which needs only to ,be severed from the bar, is cut off by a square die, which forces it into a square cavity extending through the bed-plate ofthe machine, and through which it passes `away from the machine. At the same time that the finished nut is being severed from the bar the pressing-die and punch are pressing and perforating the bar immediately in the rear of the finished nut, which serves to hold the end of the bar perfectlysteady and horizontal while the nut is being severed. Thus at each complete revolution of the machine one finished nut is delivered.

One advantage of this mode of. making hotpressed nuts is that after the bar is rolled and partially perforated it may be cooled by means of a stream of cold water before it is fully perforated and severed from the bar, which makes a much better nut, combining ina great measure the advantage of hot-pressed nuts and cold-cut nuts; and another advantage is that the machinery which We use, as hereinafter described, is simple in construction, and is not exposed 'to so great a strain or (with the exception of the rollers) so high a heat as that heretofore employed in the manufacture of hot-pressed nuts, and will therefore be less liable to get out of repair,and will last longer.

The feeding of the heated bar by the revolution of the rolls saves a great amount of hand labor, and enables a \vorkman,after inserting one bar between the rolls,to get ready another bar and insert it as soon as the preceding bar has passed the rolls. This saves so much time that with our machine nuts can be made twice as rapidly as with those of Ordinary construction.

To enable others skilled in theart to construct and use our improved machine for makseribe its construction and operation.

In the drawings, a is the horizontal bed-plate of the machine, near the front end of which is the main shaft b, supported horizontally on bearings attached to the bed-plate a. On the left-hand side of the machine, at the extremity of the main shaft, is a pinion, c, which gears into a large cog-wheel, which is keyed into the extremity of the cam-shaft e. The cam-shaft is supported horizontally across the machine in suitable bearings at the top of a strong frame, f f, in which frame the cam yokes g g g work, by which the dies h and 7c and round punch t' are operated. On the extremity of the camshaft e, at the right-hand side of the machine, is a short crank, Z, to which is pivoted the upper end of the pitman m, the lower end being pivoted to the outer extremity of the ratchet-arm n. The ratchetarm n moves back and forth in a small arc of a circle Once ou every revolution of the crank ing hot-pressed nuts, we will proceed to dev Zof the cam-shaft e. The ratchet-arm has its center of motion on an extension of the journal o ofthe lower. roll, p; but it is not rigidly attached to it.

To the ratchetarm n is pivoted a pawl, r, pressed down by a spring, s, against the teeth of a ratchet-wheel, t, which -is keyed to the journal o of the lower roll, p. By this arrangement, on every upstroke of lthe ratchetarm ot, (caused bya half-revolution of the camshaft 6,) the lower roll, p, is caused to revolve through a small arc of a circle, and on the downstroke of the ratchetarm 'n (caused by the completion of the revolution of the camshaft e) the lower roll stands still and the pawl r engages another of the teeth of the ratchet-wheel.

Inside ofthe ratchet-arm n and wheel t is a cog-wheel, u, attached to the journal 0 of the lower rolLp, which cogwheel gears into another cog-wheel, u, of the same diameter and number of teeth, which is attached to the upper roll, q, `and thus the two rolls p and q revolve in opposite directions (as they would do if in rolling Contact) in exactly the same time. The upper and lower rolls, p and q,are placed one above the other in housing c, attached to the :rear end of the machine.

lThe rolls p and g, used for rolling and perforating the bar of iron from which the nuts are to be made, are of peculiar construction. One of them has a rectangular-shaped groove extending all around it,the depth ofthe groove being rather greater than the thickness of the nuts to be made thereby and the width of the groove being the same as that ofthe nuts. In the drawings, the upper roll, q, is represented as grooved, and the other or lower roll, p, has a rectangular-shaped belt,'y, projecting from and surrounding periphery, the rolls being so geared thatthe belty projects a short distance into the groove to of the upper roll, q. The whole of the belt y is such as to lit snugly into the groovew without being so high as to impede the revolving of the rolls. The circumference ofthe upper roll at the bottom of the groove w is exactly equal to the circumference of the belt y on the lower roll, so that there may be no rubbing of either roll on the surface of the bar of iron passed between them. The circumference of the belt y at its highest point is about on a level with the bedplate a of the machine.

Projecting from 4 the `face of the belt g/ of the lower roll, p, and from the bottom of the groove w in the upper roll, q, are a number of bosses or short punches, x, which are placed at uniform distance from each other on both rolls, and projecting in radial lines from t-he center of the rolls. The rolls are so geared that as they revolve the extremity of one boss x in the lower roll will be exactly in line with the corresponding boss x in the upper roll. The bosses or short punches x are elliptical at their points, the long diameter of the ellipse being parallel with the axis of the rolls, and equal to the diameter of the bosses at their base, which is equal to the diameter of the eye of the nut, and the bosses are round, or nearly so, at their base. This ellipticity of the extremities ofthe bosses is necessary, bccause as the bosses d o not enter and leave the bar of iron at right angles to its face they would otherwise make too large a hole; but by making them of the shape described they make the holes in the nut nearly circular.

In front of the rolls, on the bed-plate a, are placed two Z-shaped strips, 2, parallel to each other, which serve as a way or guide for the bar of iron as it passes to the dies and punch. The distance apart ofthe perpendicular sides of the ways z is equal to the width of the nutbar. This distance may be regulated at pleasure by` set-screws s', inserted in slots in the ways, which screws secure the ways to the bed-plate. The ways z extend to the front edge of the square cavity a in the die-block setin the bed-plate, through which the finished nuts are delivered, and a stop or gage, b, placed at the forward edge of the square cavity a', serves to prevent the finished nut from passing beyond the square cavity a in the die-block, into which it is to be forced by the cutter-die 7c.

In the bed-plate a, immediately under the cutter-die 7c and the press die 71, is placed a block of steel, c', the upper face of which is Iiush with the surface ot' the bedplate ct of the machine. This die block has two holes extending through it and through the bedplate a. One, a, is a square hole of the size of the finished nut, which is exactly under the square cutter-die 7c, and the other, e, is around hole of the diameter ofthe eye of the nut, which is exactly under the round punch The distance from the center of the square cavity a to the center of the round hole e is equal to the width of the nut, because when the finished nut is being severed from the nut-- bar 'the nut next to it on the bar is at the same time pressed and punched. The cutter-die k and press-die h are made of steel, and may be in one piece, as they have exactly the same motion. Each is a square, the sides of which are equal to the sides of the nut to be made. The face of the cutter-die k and of the pressdie h are ofthe shape usually given to the upper side of anut, having the impression of a washer cut in them, so asto give that shape to the nut. The cutter-die 7c is placed in advance of, but in contact with the press-die It, so as to sever the finished nut from the bar and force it into the square hole a in the dieblock c', while the press-die 7L presses the nut blank immediately behind the finished nut on the surface of the die-block c. `/Vhen the press-die h presses the nut-blank, it is sustained laterally by the side of 'the cutter-die 7c in front by the strips z, forming the ways or guide on either side, and by the remainder of the nut-bar in the rea-r, any excess of thickness of iron in the nut being forced back into the bar in the rear. The round eye-punch is inserted into a suitable round hole in the center of the press-die h, so that the perforation of the nut may be completed while the blank is being coln pressed by the press-die h, as before stated. There are three cams, j j j', on the earn-shaft c, the two outer cams, j j, operating the cut-- ter-die and press-die, and the middle cam, j', operating the round punch. Each cam is surrounded by a cam-yoke, g gg.

The cams are so constructed that during the half-revolution of the crank Z and cam-shaft e, when the rolls are revolving, the cams do not move the cam-yokes; but during the remainder of the revolution of the crank Z, when the rolls are stationary, the cams gg cause the cutter die 7c and press-die h to descend, and immediately afterward the round punch i to descend and rise again rapidly, after which the two dies k and h rise again. The camyokes g g, which are operated by the outer cams, j j, extend downward, and are connected near their lower extremity by ablock of iron, d', placed between them, in which are placed the cutter-dic 7c and pressdie 7L. The central cam-yoke, j', extends downward, between the side cam-yokes, jj, and in itslower extremity is inserted the round punch i, which extends through the die-holder d', and, as before stated, through the center of the press-dich.

If it is desired to alter the machine so as to make nuts of different size, the rolls p and q, the die-block c', the cutter-die k, and pressdie h, and its round punch i may all be removed and others of different size substituted,the otherparts of the machine remaining unaltered, excepting that the ways 2 must be set to the right width and the ratchet and crank so adj usted as togive the requisite feed to the nut-bar.

From the description already given ofthe machine it will be perceived that the arc of motion of the ratchet-arm a and rollers p and Q, on each revolution of the camshaft, must be so regulated as to move forward the nut-bar just the length required for one nut.

The operation of our machine is as follows: A bar of iron,of suitable width and thickness, at a welding heat, is inserted in the groove w in the roll q, and by the motion of the rolls is fed forward at each half-revolution of the camshaft, resting during the remainder of the revolution,so as to permit of the operation of pressing and punching, during which the nut-bar must be stationary. As the bar passes between the rolls a hole is pressed in the bar on each face by the bosses x, each hole on the upper side being exactly opposite to the hole on the under side, and a slight film of iron remaining between the two holes, which is afterward removed by the eye-punch, the iron forced from the holes being pressed into the bar in the rear of the rolls. As the nut-bar advances along the bed-plate a t0- ward the dies and punch it is guided and prevented from curling by the ways or guide c. When the forward end of the perforated nut-bar reaches the rear side of the cutterdie k, it is pressed by the descent of the pressdie h, and then perforated by the round punch 1I, which rises immediately, while the press-die still presses and holds the nut-blank down, and then the press-die also rises. The rolls then revolve again and force the nut-bar forward the length of one nut, which brings the end of the nut blank or bar against the gage b at the end of the ways z. The dies k and h then again descend, the cutting-die severingthe finished nut from the nut-bar and forcing it through the square hole a in the die-block c', and thus delivering it from the machine. At the same time the press-die descends and completes the nut-blank, as'before stated, and then the round punch completes the perforation of the eye, after which the punch first rises and then the dies; and this series of operations is repeated, the heated bar of iron being continuously fed into the machine between the rolls. After the bar of iron passes through the rolls, and before it reaches the dies and punch., it is cooled by means of a jet or stream of cold water. This is done because, while the iron is more easily rolledv and partially perforated at a welding heat, and the rolling while hot tends to compact the fibers of the iron and make a more solid nut, yet a better exterior finish can be given to the nut anda better finished eye can be made by giving it its finishing pressure and completing the punching and severing it from the blank when comparatively cool. The machine may, however, be used for making nuts and washers without thus cooling the iron.

The groove and belt in the rolls may be placed as shown in the drawings, or their relative position `may be reversed, the groove being placed in the lower and the belt in the upper roll 5 or,if preferred,a pair of rolls may be used, each having a groove of one-half the required thickness of the nut to be made. The bosses or short punches may also be dispensed with, or either or both of the rolls, if desired, and the punching be performed entirely by the round punch while the nut-blank is under pressure of the press-die. This will be done when small nuts and washers are made on this machine out of cold iron.

Having thus described our improvement in machines for making nuts and washers, what we claim in our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Bolling and partially perforating the nutblanks of both faces before the nuts are severed from the bar and preventing the bar from spreading laterally during the perforation by means of a pair of rollers, one having a projecting belt fitting into a groove in the other and furnished with short punches 0r DORE VOOD and EDWARD GONE SMITH, have bosses, substantially as described. hereunto set our hands in the presence of two JAMES T. WOOD. E. C. SMITH.

2. The use7 in combination with the rollers, witnesses. constructed as above described, of the round l punch i, and dies h and k, and die-block c', i

Witnesses.

A.- S. NICHOLSON, W. BAKEW ELL.

for the purpose of making finished nuts, sub stantially as hcrcinbefore described.

In testimony whereof we, the said J. THEO- 

